Paths of Blood
by Shenya
Summary: *updated* Come. Don't be afraid. Join me in a tale of the vampires' love, fears and failures along the centuries. Yami, Bakura, Ishtar and Seto try to preserve their sanity as the centuries pass...Prequel to Slaying the Dreamer
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, no matter how many times I wish I did... Nope. Why do I even bother writing this? Oh, yes. There are some individuals who might get the wrong ideas if I don't *sigh* But it's depressing... I will not write it in further chapters!  
  
Um, yeah. I'm back with yet another fic. This time it's a prequel to Slaying the Dreamer - you needn't have read it to understand this. Pharaoh means Yami, Priest is Seto, Thief is Bakura and Guardian is Ishtar. As in Yami Malik. That's pretty much all you need to know, and it's explained further in this chapter. Well, it's a prologue designed to make sure you can catch up on this.  
  
Pairings... Well, let's see what I'll make up. Probably along the centuries every one possible with those four o.O But don't get scared yet, I haven't exactly decided on that... But I _am_ intending to write romance into this fic, and the hikaris won't be born for a long time yet... Suggestions are welcome!  
  
Paths of Blood, prologue (in Egypt, about a few months after they were Turned...)  
  
---Yami POV---  
  
As every night, I woke to darkness. I still wasn't used to it. To forever be in the darkness, to drink the blood of the living in order to survive, to avoid the blessed rays of the sun so he couldn't burn me to death... What was there after death to the likes of me? Would the great Anubis judge my heart to be too heavy because of all this that I was now?  
  
But it wasn't my fault! I had wanted to be the pharaoh for all my life, I didn't have any plans of changing... Was I no longer a god?  
  
I was. But a god of a different kind, the kind that walked the earth for an eternity, the kind that brought death with him. I smiled in the darkness. So was my life now. I didn't truly even miss the days I lived with all that wealth in my palaces, striving to do some sort of a lasting impact on the world.  
  
I didn't need to now, I was forever. I wouldn't need anyone to remember me, I'd be there for all time, stalking. This pleased me much.  
  
I heard voices in the darkness. My underlings were awake. They always woke up after me, I was the strongest of us four. Not less so with the powers of the Millennium Puzzle to aid me.  
  
I remembered the day not so long ago when I had regained it. There had been so much pain... And the Soul Eater who had fought against me had dissappeared with four of the Items.  
  
I had had time to give two of them to my companions in blood for safekeeping. Guardian had received the Rod and the young Thief had received the Ring. Unfortunately, the Soul Eater had taken the rest before I could toss one to the Priest, or take the rest for myself.  
  
I could feel my eyebrows draw into a straight line. We still hadn't been able to locate the Soul Eater - the one who called himself Shadi. We would have to be careful, with the powers of the Items he was a formidable opponent. That is, if he had managed to recover from the wound Ishtar had inflicted on him with the Rod. That blade surely was useful sometimes...  
  
My thoughts drifted to my underlings. The Guardian - Ishtar. When my father had still been alive, he had been the Guardian of the Items. He had dissappeared shortly after my father's death, but I had met him again when the vampire's had taken us. He had come to me with the Thief to make plans to get away from them... None of us had been even slightly glad of the fact that they had tried to control us.  
  
Then there was the Thief. The young one with white hair who had been snatched off the streets to do my bidding. Namely get the Items from my father's tomb, the fool had thougth it would keep me from them. He had been so wrong. I had detected some innocence in the Thief when we had first met, but I guess my dungeons and the treatment of the vampire's hadn't been kind to him. Bakura was now as vicious as the rest of us, and the slowly fading scar under his right eye made him look evil beyond any human's dreams.  
  
Lastly, the Priest. I had liked him sometimes, when my father had first died. I had made an alliance with him, to keep the powerthirsty courtiers at bay. He was ambitious, perfect for my use. Of course, when I was turned a vampire and went to the palace to get the Items, I had drained him of his blood. Ishtar and Bakura had changed him to be one of our kind, but he held some grudge against me. I could understand that. As long as he didn't go too far. He had been loyal to me when I was still human. And he was the only one of us with no Item. But he was still useful, his mind was the sharpest weapon at times.  
  
Did I sound ccruel? Uncaring? Hell yeah. I had no reason to be otherwise. What would I benefit from it? Nothing. Only pain came from being soft.  
  
I rose from the fancy sarcophagus I slept in during the days. We had no protection of a big community of vampires around us, as the tribe which Turned us had had. We needed other safeguards.  
  
Of course, the tribe was no longer. We had eliminated those when we got bored of their possessiveness. I had quite enjoyed ripping of their queen's head. That bitch had taken the Items from my palace, and had deserved what she got. Not to mention she had been the one who Turned me, I had quite enjoyed killing her indeed. I definitely hadn't enjoyed her drinking my blood.  
  
"What's the plan for tonight?"  
  
"The usual. First we go hunting."  
  
Now this was one aspect of being a vampire that fascinated me. The craving for blood was always there, urging us on to feed on the blood of humans, driving us to go stalk the narrow alleyways of the mortal's cities. The unbelievable feeling when the hot blood streamed down my throat, now _that_ was something to look forward to.  
  
Quite simply I loved it, loved the thrill of the nightly hunt, loved the way the pathetic mortals struggled against my strength, loved the feeling of my fangs sinking on the throat of the first human for the night. Was I addicted to it? Yes. How could it be otherwise? I was a vampire now, wasn't every vampire addicted to the blood?  
  
"Let's go"  
  
---Bakura POV---  
  
The Pharaoh was so confident... he always knew what to do... I thought I was falling for him, and was that such a big miracle? No, I don't think so. His confidence drew us all to him.  
  
How did I know this? I had talked to the others, in the silent hours of the night, when the Pharaoh was captured by the blood and walked in the cities, hunting for fresh blood. He was insatiable. The rest of us weren't that bad, although the Guardian came close. The two of them went off sometimes, when me and the Priest stayed behind, brooding.  
  
We had much to think on. The complete change in our lives was enough in itself, but the way things had been going lately... The Pharaoh was agitated because we hadn't been able to find the Soul Eater. He truly wanted the Items.  
  
Guardian worried that he would be blamed because he had hit only the shoulder of the Soul Eater, not the chest like he had meant to. I didn't blame him, he had been dizzy from the effects of the Soul Eater's barrier. A different Soul Eater's, there had been two. But the younger one was the one who had avoided our grasp. The one named Shadi. I had thought he was some kind of an apprentice, the way he kept to the shadows.  
  
I could remember how me, the Pharaoh and the Guardian had stormed the palace when we had thought that the Items were still there. We had killed so many... At some points I could swear we had waded in streams of fresh blood, the sticky liquid flowing from the corpses littering the floor in our wake way too much for us to consume. We hadn't been there to feed, anyway. It was simple massacre.  
  
Soon after that, I had received the Ring. I still wasn't in complete control over it, and couldn't quite believe that the Pharaoh had given it to me. I was hesitant at first to even touch it, but when time passed by and the Pharaoh began to instruct me on how to use it, I gained more confidence. Now it was like an old friend, it's comforting weight hanging from my neck. Would it sometime be taken away from me? I shed that particular thought away from my mind. I wasn't quite ready to think on it yet.  
  
I touched the scar beneath my eye. It was slowly fading away, I guess the blood of a vampire couldn't accept such things. No, the immortal blood wanted perfection, so it was filling the shallow scars. It's not like I was particularly fond of it, but the thing somehow seemed to be the representation of my humanity. What would happen when the scar was completely gone? I shivered and hurried my steps to catch up to the others.  
  
We were walking towards the closest city, to fulfill our nightly need for blood. If someone had told me a few months ago that I'd end up murdering people every night, I'd have probably laughed. Or maybe not, just looked at them and tried to get away from them. I had changed much during this time... The Pharaoh's dungeons first, and then to be taken away by supernatural creatures and changed to be one of them... Life hadn't been good to me.  
  
---Ishtar POV---  
  
I glanced behind me to make sure the Thief was following us. He had a tendency to fall to his thoughts and wander away from the rest of us. The Pharaoh wasn't pleased with him then, and neither was I. Although I didn't know my regent's reason for his anger, I knew mine.  
  
There were many unknown dangers in the night, and just one vampire couldn't beat them all. I was worried that the Thief would be harmed in some way. He was important to me, as were the Pharaoh and the Priest. We were one now, walking through the night. We shared the same existence. We shared the same blood.  
  
What would a vampire's blood taste like now that I was one of them? I had wondered that for some time now. What would the Thief's blood taste like? I craved for that knowledge, but I didn't dare to drink from him, or even to hint that I'd like to. He wasn't so cruel and uncaring despite his appearance, it was just the surface, he might shy away from me if I told him of this... lust.  
  
Deep down he was still the same fragile human he had been before he was snatched off the streets. It fascinated me. I was sure I had never been that innocent. Certainly not?  
  
I shook all thoughts of the Thief away from my mind, preparing for tonight's kills. I had come to love the blood of humans. I was in no way as enthusiastic about it as the Pharaoh, but I still drank more than the Priest and the Thief.  
  
Ah. Now what did we have there?  
  
I looked at the Pharaoh, begging for permission for the first kill of the night. He nodded, and I was off. The hunger of a vampire was something I hadn't learnt to control yet, and I was ravenous.  
  
---Seto POV---  
  
I watched from the side as the Guardian asked for permission to go for a kill. The first kill of the night. It had become somewhat meaningful to us, that first blood we shed beneath the dark skies. It was some sort of a ritual, but I had no idea what purpose it had. If any.  
  
I could feel my eyes glow in the dim light as I smelled the fresh blood so close by. I was hungry, too. Bakura had already gone on his way, to find a good victim for himself. He was so picky, he would only drink from certain kinds of people. Not that I was really much better. Was I trying to prove something with picking only strong and healthy people as my victims?  
  
No, it must be merely that I didn't want to drink the blood of obvious losers. I wanted strong blood. I could become stronger myself that way. Perhaps stronger that the Pharaoh?  
  
I shouldn't go that far. Perhaps it wasn't even possible. But the Pharaoh had taken my blood and left me to lie on the floor, to die or to live, the future determined by luck. Then Bakura had come and suggested making me one of them... I hadn't told him I was grateful. It didn't matter. If it came up someday, perhaps I would. But not now, the memory of pain was too much for me to bear.  
  
I took off, leaving the Pharaoh walking the streets, jumping to the roof of the nearest building. I had a good view from there, it would be easier to spot people walking about this late. They weren't many, but always some were found. The people who thought that the night was their friend... It wasn't. It only helped my kind to get to them.  
  
Getting to the roof of the next building, I tried to shake off the bothersome thoughts. I thought way too much nowadays. Was there no peace from my own mind? What would I end up like if I couldn't even keep my own mind in control?  
  
A complete wreck, shriveled by time, a madman merely existing through the centuries?  
  
No. I refused to be like that. Not long ago we had met one of those. It had been a pitiful sight even for me. The Guardian had let him of his misery, blessfully killing his body. I nearly shivered at the memory. What were the chances of ending up like that?  
  
My thoughts were finally interrupted by footsteps approaching in the darkness. I glanced down and saw a human figure. Yes. I had found my first victim. How would he taste like? I had noticed that not all the people tasted the same, there were subtle differences.  
  
Smiling slightly, I jumped down from the roof.  
  
---  
  
AN: ...So what do you think? If they're OOC, it's because it's ancient Egypt. And don't blame me for the shortness of some POVs, I simply had to get this out some time... Please review...? 


	2. 1 Silent Streets

Finally... The first actual chapter of PoB... I decided to divide this to different parts, it makes it easier for me to keep up with the plot. But all the parts will be posted here... This chapter begins the first part, A Tribe of Vampires. It happens completely in ancient Egypt, and beginning from the time right after the prologue... Oh yes, and this fic might eventually contain some spoilers if you haven't read the manga up to the part where Yugitachi go to Yami's memories. It won't be bery obvious, since this is an AU fic, but some characters that the vampires meet might seem familiar to those that know what happens there... Without further ranting, here you go.  
  
Many thanks to Renee the Rabid Squirrel (I kind of designed it to be that way ^.~), Christina (it could be confusing if you haven't read the sequel now that I think of it...), Avezinzi (hmm... A good idea. I'll keep it in mind ^^), Dragon Slayer, Neko-chan (heh, I seem to have trouble with that 'continue' part...), NocturnalQueen (I'm sorry, the hikaris aren't in this story. They'll meet the first time in the sequel), Devil Malik, PanDora, kiki San (the 'historyish' feeling could be because I had to write somehow what happened to them before. And I didn't feel like writing it completely, because the exact descriptions are in Slaying the Dreamer), Callisto Firestarter (Seto uke? Hmm... I'll add at least one pairing like that sometimes ^.~) and Queen Ali B (No, I'm from Finland. Does it show that well? Yes, something indeed happened to Bakura... Some of it should be revealed in StD soon, and in this fic all of it will be revealed a bit later)  
  
---Beginning of part one: A Tribe of Vampires---  
  
Paths of Blood, chapter 1: Silent Streets  
  
---Yami POV---  
  
I walked the streets silently. Only the Thief had decided to stay with me, I don't know why. And what did it matter anyway? I didn't need solitude to kill. I didn't need someone's companionship to go about in the sometimes dangerous streets I hunted. If he wanted to follow me, I had no objection, but I think he wouldn't get enough to feed that way.  
  
I tended to get all the pray in the area...  
  
I couldn't help it, the futile strugglings of a mortal in the last minutes of his life, the faltering beats of the heart, the submissive silence of their minds, which always were shrouded in terror, it all drew me to them, like a moth to the fire. Except that it wouldn't kill me, it would kill the fire. I chuckled, thinking of that image. A moth killing a fire. But weirder things happened, so why not this?  
  
Speaking of that fire, where was everyone? We hadn't encountered a single mortal yet. Except for the one the Guardian took. I was beginning to regret giving that human to him. I wanted to douse some fires...  
  
I stopped walking and closed my eyes. Walking about like this seemed to bring no results, so I needed to take a different approach to this night's hunt. I opened up my mind, expanding my senses away from this body I had. As always, it was exhilirating, the sense of pure freedom this brought. But I wasn't doing it just for fun, I needed to find humans.  
  
And that I did. Not far from the place my body was standing with the Thief, who was confusedly looking at me, waiting for me to come back. He had never tried this, and I doubted he even knew much - he had never listened when I told the others about this.  
  
There were two people. An adult and a child. How perfect.  
  
Opening my eyes again, I smiled. What a fitting end to those two.  
  
Not waiting for the Thief to catch up with me or to even bother telling him I'd go, I took off, using my newfound speed and strength to reach those two little humans whose blood I so craved. Needed.  
  
My body tensing in anticipation of the coming kill, I noticed those two. So close...so close... I needed their blood, I lusted for it. And I would have it.  
  
I slowed down, to advance like a normal humanbeing, walking down the alley, my feet made no sound on the ground. Ah, the blood. Perhaps this was the best part about the hunt, when the prey was already in sight, and I was walking to them, when nothing could save them anymore. When they were mine, yet they didn't know it. When they were dead, yet they didn't know it. So exciting. Enough so that I could feel the way my eyes hazed over with blood, a crimson film covering my vision. It filtered the darkness away, made everything brighter. It made the blood in the mortals' veins stand out.  
  
Why this happened, I don't know. One of the mysteries of the vampires, I thought. Not worth wasting my time on thinking about it.  
  
Blood... I headed to the adult, the woman with short black hair. She had more blood than the girl. I wanted blood. Lots of it. Gathering the powers of my mind, I sent a thought to their heads. Their pretty little human minds.  
  
//Stop. Wait for me. Don't go//  
  
Immediately the two figures stopped, I could sense the confusion radiating from them. Feeling a smirk tug at my lips, I walked. To meet the woman. To meet the blood. The sweet blood filling her veins, carrying life with it, the coppery liquid flowing through her lithe body.  
  
My eyes were glued to her throat, where I could see a beautiful vein pulsing in beat with her heart. Soon it would stop pulsing, because there would be nothing for the heart to circulate. She would be empty. She would be dead.  
  
I smiled faintly. Dead as a stone, my darling.  
  
I reached out to her, my fingers touching the soft flesh of her arm. So beautiful... Was anything more beautiful than someone on the brink of her - or his - death?  
  
Finally, I was with her, close enough to embrace her and press my mouth on her throat. Such soft skin, soft and thin, so easily pierced... Blood flooded my mouth, the steady beats of her heart carrying the liquid to my mouth. At first I was satisfied with only drinking the blood that flowed gently out of her, but then my hunger grew, my need grew. I held her tighter and started sucking on that hot throat, blood coming quicker now.  
  
I could feel how it spread all through my body, nourishing me in its splendor.  
  
All too soon it was over, the flow of blood first reducing to a trickle, then stopping completely. Her heart was silent. She didn't move.  
  
So pretty, even in death.  
  
I dropped her, turning to the small girl that was watching from the side, eyes wide with fear. I watched her for a while, fascinated by her dark brown eyes and the healthy glow of her tanned skin. Then my hunger got the better of me, and I went to her, kneeling to be at the level of her neck.  
  
I reached out and took hold of the small female's chin, making her look at me. The terror in her eyes... It was somehow not the same as the terror of all my other victims. This terror didn't make me want her blood, it made me want to release her. Not because I would have felt sorry for her, but because she disgusted me. That terror wasn't alluring, it was somehow repelling.  
  
As I thought on that, I hear a small shuffle behind me. Yes, the Thief. I had already forgotten about him. I couldn't even begin to think of the possibility of letting her go in front of him. But what could I do then?  
  
The answer came, as if the gods had sent it to me. Dear brothers and sisters, even now you're with me?  
  
"Bakura. Come here"  
  
I could feel the other vampire's surprise. But he couldn't do anything but to obey me. And that's the way it should be.  
  
When the Thief was beside me, hesitantly looking at me, I turned slightly and moved the girl in front of him.  
  
"I noticed that you still haven't fed tonight. She will be your victim"  
  
The Thief was obviously confused now. For a very good reason, I might add, I hadn't actually been the most friendly and sharing person previously. Not that I still was, but he didn't need to know that.  
  
"I... You're giving her to me?"  
  
He licked his lips, shifting his gaze from me to the girl, and then back again. What was he so nervous about? It was only a kill. One more kill, draining of blood, the sweet liquid filling you. It's not like he hadn't done that and a lot worse before.  
  
"Yes. Drink now, I don't have the whole night."  
  
Still hesitant, he took the girl from my hold, and with one last glance at me, sank his fangs on her neck.  
  
---Bakura POV---  
  
The blood, oh the blood. So sweet, so filling, so full of fear. Why did he give her to me? Why did he want me to drink from her? I could feel him, my Pharaoh, standing so close to me, watching me intently. Why did he do that? Did I do something wrong?  
  
But to be honest, it felt... exciting. Having him watch while I fed, somehow intimate. But why would he do it?  
  
I couldn't think on it long, the blood swept my thoughts away as so often was the case. I could feel her small hands trying to push me away, but she had no chance to get away from a vampire. This kiss was lasting, this kiss was the last one she would ever have.  
  
Slowly, ever so slowly, I could feel how she weakened, the blood left in her not enough to keep her alive. All that blood that had been hers was now mine, it roamed in me, the taint of my blood seeping in it, making it the strong blood of a vampire.  
  
Finally I took one last mouthful from her slender little neck, gulping it down hungrily. I raised my head and looked down at her face. The unseeing eyes were half-closed. She didn't seem like she had suffered much, they never did.  
  
I dropped the body of the girl, confused. Pharaoh was still looking at me, his eyes gleaming a fierce red - not like when he was feeding, but I could catch flashes of crimson in those eyes that normally were more purple. That look in his eyes was unnerving. Why did he look at me like that?  
  
He took a step closer, ignoring the dead girl at my feet. I couldn't look away from him. What was he doing? He reached out with his hand and touched my hair. I was really getting nervous now. He shouldn't behave like this. He shouldn't be like this, and he had never been before. What was so different now?  
  
He came closer still, his eyes now sliding to the blood on my mouth, the girl's blood. He leaned closer, his mouth opening a bit. Then he pressed his lips on mine, licking at the blood covering them.  
  
I was pretty sure I whimpered. No no no, he shouldn't behave like this! He was the Pharaoh, the god! He couldn't, could he...? Of course he could, he was a god on earth, he could do anything he wanted. But in all my dreams, I had never even dared to consider the possibility that he might do something like this to me.  
  
His hot tongue slid down my chin, searching every little drop of that blood. I felt like I would collapse if not for his hand on my back, supporting me. Making sure I wouldn't go anywhere.  
  
And then, suddenly, it was over, he took a step away from me, watching me coldly again. He turned, and started walking down the alley.  
  
"Come, Bakura. It's never a good idea to stay with the corpse."  
  
I meekly obeyed, still feeling slightly dizzy. I couldn't believe what had just happened.  
  
Pondering whether I'd have the courage to ask him where we were going, I trudged on, my eyes glued to his back. He was acting weird, not simply nearly kissing me, but in other ways too. Like last night he had actually gotten into a fight with a human.  
  
He had just walked straight up to him and demanded to know personal things of him. With a commoner it might have worked, but this man had clearly been of noble blood. He hadn't taken well to those demands. In the end my pharaoh had been so angry with the man that he had let him go, not caring what the man had seen and heard. Ishtar had gone after him and killed him. It wouldn't do to have too much evidence of our nightly visits lying about - or circulating as creepy stories in the city.  
  
What could cause this behavior in him? It certainly wasn't the way he normally was... At least I thought so. But then again, I had only known him for a short while, and he was the pharaoh. Or had been? No, was. Maybe the shock of being Turned only now hit in... But I didn't think of Yami as the kind to get nervous about that.  
  
Once again, I was in my thoughts. Immediately when I noticed this I tried to concentrate, it wouldn't do to get harmed because I hadn't paid attention. Would I ever learn?  
  
I noticed how Yami's footsteps slowed down, and he started to look around, his brow furrowing in concentration. What did he sense? I wasn't nearly as good as him in those things.  
  
"Bakura... Come here"  
  
He had stopped a little way to the side and forward of me, peering around a corner. I obediently walked to him - did I really have a choice in the matter? No, I didn't think so.  
  
"What is it Yami?"  
  
I received an irritated glance to my whispered question. Perhaps I shouldn't have called him by his name? He was sometimes touchy about that. Not all the time, but sometimes.  
  
//There's something wrong. A presence...//  
  
//Is it hostile?//  
  
//Could be. It's moving too quickly to be exactly human//  
  
Had more vampires come to our city? It could be, but it could also be something else. Something much worse.  
  
"Whatever it was, it's gone now"  
  
He started walking again, disregarding me completely.  
  
---  
  
AN: Yes, they're OOC. Think of Bakura and Ishtar as their hikaris for now, and Yami and Seto as... Some strange people. The nearer I get to the present day, the more they will be like their real selves. Please review? 


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